The Peddler

He was a peddler in the modern sense, which meant that he tried to sell as little as possible. He was a scaremonger in pinstriped suit. A chapmen, and he sold small books to rural people. Look at the spine, he’d say. Look at the binding, all in Saint Bartholomew, who witnessed the ascension, flayed with care by the knife of his wife. Look here, some redactor put a dog’s cock after every line. Jesus was a lanier, he’d say. He sold his flock one-by-one in Philadelphia, three-for-one and a bread and liver sandwich.